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Ignoring the whole seizure controversy with this episode, this was an interesting episode but not one of my favorites. I liked how it moved away from the normal setting in the natural world and in cyberspace. And I'm sure Nurse Joy installed the virus protection software and wasn't aware the gang were trapped in cyberspace so if she already installed it before hand they wouldn't need to go into cyberspace. And the virus protection was missiles that will emit flashing lights. I think this episode is kind of convoluted in a way but I have a hard time explaining it.

Now I think the main problem with the whole seizure scene is not Porygon or Pikachu. It was the vaccine missiles because they emit strobe lights when they explode. If they used normal explosions instead, this episode would've been safer, but I think they went for the strobe light explosions because it looked more digital.

It's a total shame this episode only aired once anywhere in the world, Porygon's evolutions will probably never show up in the anime, and that the official companies and sources never even acknowledge the episodes existence (Much like Nintendo never acknowledges the Cdi games). I'm just really glad that someone was able to video tape it when it aired because that was the only way it could be on the internet at all. If no one video taped the episode, it would be totally non-existent.

Actually, this episode is my favorite...the plot is very...different from any other episode. It's a shame it's banned, though.

Master of glitching.

Pokemon caught in Red (American): 255/255
Champion in: Japanese Red, Green, and Blue; American Red, Blue, and Yellow; American Gold and American Crystal; Japanese Crystal; American FireRed; American Diamond; American X; American Alpha Sapphire

For a banned episode, this was one wacky filler. I normally dislike episodes like this, but I couldn't help but enjoy seeing Satoshi and his friends exploring cyberspace on Akihabara-hakase's Porygon. Porygon's ability to change its shape was fascinating, and the Rocket-dan handling the other Porygon made things fun.

I wish this episode aired in the U.S., just not with the part that gave all those kids seizures. I know that parents wouldn't be happy about it, but it shouldn't be a problem if that part is taken out.

Who knows? Maddie said 4Kids toned down the electric strobe effect, but it was still deemed dangerous because of the epileptic seizures that kids in Japan experienced watching it, hence it didn't air.

She didn't say that. That's a common misquote. She only said it was dubbed. Neither did anyone say the government in Japan banned it - that April 1998 clip from the Pikachu Forest episode said that the government was involved in the research of the cause of this situation - not that the government banned it - the companies banned it because they ordered that it was never to be touched again by anyone.

They showed an artwork over a green background in the Poké Rap in the United States. They also used a different voice for Porygon, something that wouldn't be necessary if it's the same name in Japanese and English and if 4Kids didn't have access to this episode, they wouldn't have Porygon's Japanese voice either.

I think 4Kids never received this episode to start off with, given the amounts of highly indicative evidence as such. It's been stated perfectly that with over hundreds of episodes with around 10 years of dub production since, they could have been misremembered and this single episode might not have been received or dubbed anyways. It could be possible that they were working with all the 1997 original TV and post 1997 masters, so by the time they finished dubbing the Porygon episode, they were to send in the post 1997 master to the network. Of course, Japan wasn't going to give it to them - and I wonder if they made a post-1997 master just for consistency even though they were not going to use it again - because it wasn't intended to be shown again anyways (and that 4Kids would only show toned down footage in the Poké Rap) - so then 4Kids said oh screw it and decided never to look back at it again. That's my idea what would've been the issue if the episode was dubbed.

Nothing. All you can appear to get nowadays is just a slight headache.

There are many people who panic about "getting a seizure" or something like that but that's just being overly dramatic. If you're watching on VHS, the tapes tend to worsen over time and if you're watching on digital format, the rendering isn't that powerful to result in such an effect. It's not like I was even in Japan in 1997 so I don't know how the effect would display on a TV. Of course, it just affected 700 viewers at the time, so the companies could air an edited version, but then they didn't want it to be shown in the first place, yada yada, so it's best to keep the episode hidden from the public as possible. ...Of course, people still taped it and have published it to the internet, so it's not like anything you can ever get away with hiding.

Be cautious, but we have to take even in account one thing: there was (most probably) also mass hysteria.

And this case is interesting, there are even some study. A director of the Epilepsy Program said "it’s possible that a few of the children watching may have experienced photosensitive-induced seizures, but it’s hard to conceive that 700 did."
Indeed, considering the statistic, the point is: too high number of cases. For those interested: The Pokémon Panic of 1997

Be cautious, but we have to take even in account one thing: there was (most probably) also mass hysteria.

And this case is interesting, there are even some study. A director of the Epilepsy Program said "it’s possible that a few of the children watching may have experienced photosensitive-induced seizures, but it’s hard to conceive that 700 did."
Indeed, considering the statistic, the point is: too high number of cases. For those interested: The Pokémon Panic of 1997

Seems like damage control if they're acting like some of the seizures didn't happen, which is victim shaming.

Seems like damage control if they're acting like some of the seizures didn't happen, which is victim shaming.

No, I linked above an exhaustive article for those interested that explain the theory.
There is no doubt that at least some children did in fact experience seizures and other afflictions, the point is indeed the incidence of photosensitive epilepsy: is estimated at 1 in 5,000 and such an incidence (0.02 percent of the population) comes nowhere near explaining the sheer number of children affected.

I didn't realize until much later that the Porygon that Jessie had stolen and was using was actually a prototype called 'Porygon Zero', which I guess implies that Dr Akihabara invented Porygon in the show?

I didn't realize until much later that the Porygon that Jessie had stolen and was using was actually a prototype called 'Porygon Zero', which I guess implies that Dr Akihabara invented Porygon in the show?

At the very least, Akihabara-hakase was the one who created the two Porygon that entered cyberspace in this episode. Sadly for him, his house blew up, so his days of experimenting with cyberspace were over by the episode's finale.